Large-scale protests break out in Indonesia! More than 300 people were arrested

According to media reports, on August 22, large-scale protests broke out in Jakarta, Indonesia and several cities. On the same day, some of the protests clashed with the police. Protesters broke through the fence of the Indonesian Parliament building, causing the situation to get out of control. Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, and rioters who were dispersed burned police cars and damaged public facilities nearby. According to police, a total of 301 suspects suspected of causing trouble during the march have been arrested.

In addition, on August 23rd, protesters in support of the Constitutional Court's ruling, including students and people, once again gathered outside the office of the Indonesian Election Commission (KPU) in central Jakarta to express their demands.

In view of this, the Indonesian police deployed 3719 joint security personnel from the police, the military, as well as the SAR Government and related agencies, with the aim of ensuring the security of the protest in front of the Indonesian Parliament Building. And take strict security measures to prevent people from entering the parliament building or blocking roads, and prepare equipment such as fire fighting to deal with possible burning.

It is understood that this large-scale protest broke out because of opposition to the amendment to the "Local Election Law". Initially in May this year, the Indonesian Supreme Court (MA) amended the ruling on the minimum age requirement for local governor candidates to change the calculation time to 30 years old when he was sworn in after being elected. After introducing the amendment, the Indonesian Labor Party and the Gelora Party considered it a violation of constitutional rights and filed a lawsuit.

After that, the Indonesian Constitutional Court (MK) approved the lawsuit, but the legislature of the Indonesian Parliament tried to pass a new amendment, ignoring the ruling of the Constitutional Court, thus causing public discontent, so protests broke out across the country, eventually causing Congress to cancel the plan to pass the amendment and declare that it would abide by the ruling of the Constitutional Court.

In addition, it is reported that the purpose of the amendment to the "Local elections Law" is for President Joko Widodo to pave the way for his son to join the election, and to strengthen the influence of his family dynasty on Indonesia, thus causing public dissatisfaction and triggering large-scale protests, and led to the impact on the Indonesian stock market and the Indonesian rupiah on the 22nd. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index closed down 0.87%.

In fact, in recent years, with rising prices and small increases in salaries in Indonesia, the cost of living has increased significantly and many industries have been damaged, so public discontent continues to rise. At present, the purpose of this demonstration has been achieved, but the public are worried that the authorities will go back on their promises, so they are still in action.

In addition, recently, farmers in many parts of Indonesia have also expressed dissatisfaction with the government, all because of rising prices, leading to a rise in planting costs, but since the beginning of this year, many parts of Indonesia have been affected by natural disasters, resulting in reduced production.

Although the Indonesian government earlier made the coffee industry a priority for development and increased subsidies and subsidies, it did not work. According to Indonesian official data, in June 2024, Sumatra, the country's largest coffee producing region, exported 120868 bags (60 kg / bag) of coffee, a decrease of 51.89% compared with the same period last year. In addition, coffee exports decreased by 51.56% in the first three months of the year (April-June) compared with the same period last year. The decline in production has coincided with the high global price of robusta coffee, but the Indonesian coffee market is in the doldrums because of the impact of the Red Sea crisis, which has reduced the number of countries buying coffee beans in Asia.

At present, due to conflicts in many places and the participation of many trade unions in demonstrations, it may lead to delays in processing and export, and is not conducive to the development of the coffee industry, and due to political chaos, many people in the coffee industry think that the future of the coffee industry is not clear.

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